Stargate: Atlantis: Highlights of Season Four

July 11 is the premiere date for Season Five of Stargate: Atlantis. To get ready for that, let’s consider the past season. It had some changes, to be sure. It wasn’t the best season, but it did the job of furthering Atlantis’ adventures.

The biggest change in the fourth season of SGA was at the ‘captain’s chair,’ so to speak. Weir was, basically, killed off and Samantha Carter from SG-1 took over. They gave her a nice offing: she sacrificed herself to them to save her team. This allowed the writers to pursue the Replicator storyline through the course of the season. Due to Weir’s knowledge of Atlantis, Replicators built a replica of the city. Only, these were good Replicators, those seeking ascension. That’s right, digital immortality. One of these good Replicators even went messianic – sacrificing herself to destroy the Replicator homeworld. The orbital battle above their world was outstanding – full of Earth battleships, Replicator battleships and even Wraith battleships.

With that story arc preventing the Replicators from reaching Atlantis and with the city effectively hidden from the Wraith, some of Season Four was spent trying to do some character development. For example, “Missing” puts Keller and Teyla together on a mission. They end up being pursued by a bloodthirsty tribe and must work together to survive. Keller is forced to toughen up. Also, this story introduces the “missing Athosians” story line which consumes much of the latter half of the season. “Quarantine” strands groups of the Atlantis team together in various parts of the city. The pairings are both interesting and predictable. Rodney and his girlfriend are stuck together (which kills the relationship – Rodney, you idiot!); Sheppard and Teyla are together (they have “issues” to work out, like Sheppards overprotective tendencies); and then there’s Ronon and Keller. That was the most fun to watch as a romance rears its head. Then came episodes like “Outcast” and “Trio.” Boring.

Some other episodes of note were “Travelers” and “The Seer.” Not that they were outstanding scripts or stories, but they introduce factors that come into play later. For example, “The Seer” tells of a dark future for Atlantis. An old man with prophetic abilities has a vision of Atlantis crumbling, destroyed from above. This apparently comes true in “This Mortal Coil,” where a Replicator version of Atlantis is wiped out. “Travelers” introduces a new race to SGA, one with space travel capability. In fact, they live their life in space aboard generatioanal ships. They did it originally to avoid the Wraith. Now its their culture. They could be friend or foe, just depends on the story.

The season finishes with some excellent episodes. “Midway” was easily the best show all year. It has T’ealc visiting Atlantis to coach Ronon Dex, as he’s about to be interviewed with the I.O.A. (the resident bureacratic bad guys of the Stargate universe). Their sparring, verbally and physically is fantastic. As they wait on the Midway station to cross to Earth, it comes under attack by the Wraith and the two warriors end up destroying a legion of life-suckers. The heat of battle, of course, forges their friendship and all. The writers and producers put together a finely balanced episode; if they’d handled it wrong they easily could have set off the entire fanbase. Well done.

“The Kindred,” parts I and II resolve the missing Athosian story arc. They also reintroduce to us Michael, the debased Wraith from last season. He’s holding a grudge against Atlantis for how they’ve made him an outcast both to human and Wraith. Plus, he wants Teyla’s baby. It’ll make him all-powerful. He’s gone over the edge and it’s fun to watch. These eps also bring back another character: Carson Beckett. His return was much anticipated and, while it’s nice to have the good doctor back, it’s difficult, too. They made him a clone instead of the “real” Beckett so that will be an ongoing issue to deal with. The story used to explain the clone could easily have been used to make this Beckett real. Michael allegedly took some DNA from Beckett during the third season episode “Misbegotten.” Michael has been using this clone to create things like an illness which sweeps through Pegasus killing humans.

Well, Season Four could have been much more powerful. The attempted character development wasn’t as successful as it could have been. “Midway” is a good example. Ronon didn’t change or grow that much. Not like he could have. He resented T’ealc, which was expected, and ended up respecting him in the end, but that was virtually a given. When being interviewed by the I.O.A, however, he responded with very brief “Yes” and “No” answers. What else would we expect? Did anyone really think he’d just blast them all? No. Plus, he’d just spent some time expending all his hostility on Wraith, so he was at ease when he was finally interviewed. Well, it’s not like the do a lot with Ronon’s character anyway, which is a shame.

Overall, it was a decent season, if a little slow. It set up a number of stories that need to be completed in the next season. I look forward to the new season, but I worry about SGA’s future. More on that in a future entry.

More TV News

Another good television show is Chuck.  It’s a brand new comedy/drama/spy show on NBC and I feared for its survival due to the much yapped about writer’s strike. 

However, NBC has announced that it shall retain Chuck.  Good move.  The series is light hearted and actually has characters that are fun to watch.  Here’s part of the news release:

“NBC has picked up its freshman drama series “Chuck” and “Life” — as well as its hit “Heroes” — for the 2008-09 season, it was announced today by Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, and Marc Graboff, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.

All three series will have major re-launch campaigns next year. “

I almost like Life and I’ve been a Heroes addict from the start. 

Super, now I’ll be stuck watching TV. 

I hate TV.

I Hate TV – But Not Stargate Atlantis

There are only a handful of shows I’m really interested in, the foremost of them being Stargate Atlantis.  I loved Stargate SG-1 (once I finally got to see it) and Atlantis has been steadily improving.  It’s the only I show I anticipate each week.  No, that’s not true.  As Yoda said, ‘there is another.’  But more about that later.

For now, SGA rocks.  The fourth season has been about character develpment, for the most part.  Towards the end of Season Three, the producers mentioned that Season Four would be a ’soft reset’ for SGA.  They accomplished that, I think.  The city has been relocated to a new planet so the Wraith don’t really know where they are; the Replicators have been, nominally, eliminated; the city has a new leader; Teyla’s people have disappeared and she’s pregnant so there are a number of good storyline’s that can continue to revolve around that.  Here’s my articles that summarize the past three seasons.  Check ‘em out if you’d like. 

As for Season Five, well, let’s get right to it. Amanda Tapping will be devoting most of her time to Sanctuary, her new sci-fi show that has just been picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel; thus, a new leader is needed for the Atlantis expedition. Guess who was picked? That’s right– Richard Woosley. Yes, that weaselly I.O.A character portrayed by Robert Picardo. This should lead to all kinds of confrontations, at least inside Atlantis, as everyone rebels and adjusts to his command style. Of course, on many episodes of Atlantis and SG1 it’s been demonstrated that he really has no command skills, which makes this an interesting choice, indeed. Since Atlantis isn’t really a military operation, I suppose that a bureaucratic choice is appropriate. I just can’t wait to see Woosley’s interactions with Ronon.

Tapping will still be appearing in Atlantis. She’s scheduled for “several” episodes. Another character from the SG1 days will be a guest star on Atlantis, Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). Shanks had recently gone to work on the series 24 but the writers strike has probably derailed his plans there and in other television series. It’s driven him back to Stargate it seems. Well, his character, Jackson, always wanted to be part of the Atlantis expedition; perhaps now he’ll have a good chance. Jackson will likely be a huge help to the city since he’s got so much experience with the Ancients. He was always my favorite on SG1, so I can’t wait to see him appear on Atlantis.

Dr. Beckett (Paul McGillion) will be back for five episodes in season five. His return has already made the last few episodes of season four highly anticipated and it will likely boost Season Five’s viewer numbers. It will be interesting to see if this leads to his return as a regular on Atlantis again. Jewel Staite, who took over the medical operations as Dr. Keller, along with the rest of the gate team, Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, and McKay will be back, too.

Oh, and the other show that I anticipate each week:  The Moment of Truth.  It makes me laugh.